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Dec. 11, 2005 The attorney general of Massachusetts sent a letter to Whole Foods Market, an international chain of natural and organic food stores advising them that they could face criminal charges if they went forth with their plans to open their doors for business on Thanksgiving. They would be in violation of Blue Laws. The origins of the Blue Laws come from the 17th Century Puritans in New England who created rules and regulations designed to govern moral conduct and ensure proper observance of the Sabbath. These laws dictated what people could wear, prohibited travel on Sunday and made it an offense to miss church or even put up a Christmas Tree. In recent years, the laws have been revises to allow businesses to open on Sundays but some businesses must close on Thanksgiving and Christmas. West Virginia has many of the blue laws on the books but they are not enforced by businesses that choose to ignore them. There is some argument that modern day blue laws are designed to protect workers so that they cannot be forced into working on holidays when they would rather be with family and friends. It is not practical for all workers. Last year, I worked all of the holidays. It was mandatory and I would have been fired if I did not show up for work. I was a security guard and factory stealers do not take a holiday off. I did not mind because I liked the holiday pay. My son, Billy was also mandated to work. He worked as a buffet bar attendant at Shoney's Restaurant. He was not too happy about it but he needed the money. Last year, Billy was working full-time, living on his own and a Junior in High School. This year he came crawling back to the nest. I advised my son to focus on getting through his Senior year and not to worry about working so much. This year, neither my son nor I worked on Thanksgiving. I am not a Domestic Goddess who cooks big Thanksgiving dinners. My first thought was to buy some turkey TV dinners and call it good. My second thought was that Billy deserves better so I suggest that we go out to a Chinese Restaurant. Thanksgiving arrived, so we got into the car and I drove downtown. Both the Chinese Restaurants were closed. The Bob Evans and Applebee's Restaurants were closed We were not too heartbroken to discover the local Mexican diner was closed. West Virginia's version of Mexican Food is Salsa made from crushed tomatoes with a dash of Tabasco sauce and served with fritos. The main dish is melted Velveta Cheese over canned pork and beans. The only restaurant that was open was Shoney's. Billy told me that going to his former place of employment for Thanksgiving Dinner was not an option.. The only store in town that ignored the still existing blue law was Wal-Mart. My son made a brilliant suggestion , "Lets go buy some microwave dinners!" . My first thought was the best thought after all. . The dinners were two for three dollars. I bought four for six dollars so we had leftovers with money to spare.. I used the money we saved to buy Billy two movies for his DVD player. We came home. Billy watched the movies The dogs and I went rambling in the woods near the back of our house. There was no overtime or even holiday pay but it was a good day, nevertheless. ------------ About the author: Bonijean Isaacs is a freelance writer and Astrologer in West Virginia. Email: inez4liberty@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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